Meet Natasha Wang of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natasha Wang.

Hi Natasha, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I took my first pole class in 2005 at the age of 29, after a friend saw Sheila Kelley on Oprah and suggested we try her studio, S Factor. At the time, I was working as a publicist in entertainment technology and firmly “exercise-averse” (unless you count clubbing). But with my lifestyle habits leaning heavily on cigarettes and cocktails, pole quickly became both a healthier outlet and a social anchor.

What surprised me most weren’t the physical benefits but the confidence and sense of identity I gained from an activity that, in 2005, still felt daring and subversive. Yes, we were essentially cosplaying as strippers—a framing that feels more complicated when viewed through a 2025 lens. Eventually, I transitioned from S Factor to BeSpun, a sex worker–founded studio, where I discovered higher-level pole acrobatics and began performing and competing.

I entered my first competition in 2009, and by the following year I had won the U.S. Championship along with several other titles. By 2011, I was competing internationally, and in 2012, I began winning on the world stage.

That same year, I left my PR career behind. Since then, I’ve dedicated myself fully to pole: teaching, coaching, judging competitions, and leading workshops across the globe.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I was fortunate to begin competing when pole fitness was still in its infancy. With fewer competitions on the calendar, the ones that did exist carried more prestige and exclusivity, and I was lucky to step into that world at the right time. The tradeoff, of course, was that I spent most of my 30s traveling and teaching—a decade filled with adventure, but one that left little space to consider starting a family. By the time I reached my early 40s and tried to have a child, I had waited too long.

This November I’ll turn 50. Physically, I still feel strong, but there’s no denying the toll that twenty years of high-level pole has taken on my body. That reality has pushed me to train smarter, to accept that certain abilities will inevitably shift, and to pour more energy into what I can continue to grow: becoming a better teacher, mentor, and coach.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Today, I coach competitive pole dancers and train aspiring athletes, while also teaching weekly classes at three Los Angeles studios—BeSpun, Sabbath Circle, and CoCreate Fitness—as well as online through Australia’s Pole Dance Academy and my own platform. I run an on-demand learning hub, Poletica Movement, and continue to travel the world as a competition judge, workshop instructor, and retreat leader.

I’m known for blending yoga, fitness, movement, and pole into classes that are both technically precise and creatively challenging. A lifelong learner, I continually invest in my craft: I hold Personal Training and Corrective Exercise certifications from NASM, Yin and Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga certifications from Yoga Alliance, and nearly every major pole certification out there—including X-Pert, elevatED, Floor Flow, Liquid Motion, Pole Fitness Alliance, and Vertical Art Athletics. Paired with two decades of pole experience and 15 years of teaching internationally at the highest level means my students are in confident, capable hands!

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck has played an enormous role in my life and career. I was born under the Rabbit, the luckiest of the Chinese Zodiac signs, and I’ve always felt that fortune at my back. I’ve never been the strongest, the most flexible, or the flashiest mover, and I’m notoriously slow at picking up choreography. Still, I somehow found myself rising in the pole fitness world. I can only chalk that up to a mix of persistence and timing—and to Stephen Leacock’s saying that’s become a touchstone for me: “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

I was lucky to compete during a time when championships were fewer and carried more weight.
I was lucky to appear on The View after winning the U.S. Pole Championship in 2011.
I was lucky to travel and teach workshops in those early days, even while I was still figuring out my teaching voice.

Had I started pole dancing a few years later, I doubt I would have had the same opportunities. Being in the right place at the right time has shaped so much of my journey, and I carry a deep sense of gratitude for that every day.

Pricing:

• Poletica Movement: $24.99/month or $249.99/year

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.natashawang.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natashawangpole/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natashapatwang
• Other: https://poleticamovement.com/

Image Credits
Knockingbird Creative
Jimmy Brown